Latest news with #Randall
South Wales Argus
an hour ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Harry Randall challenges England to 'make a statement'
The majority of the 27-year-old's 14 international caps have been from the bench, as was the case in his two Six Nations appearances earlier this year, but Alex Mitchell's British & Irish Lions call-up has opened up an opportunity for the scrum-half. It is one the Bristol Bears star is determined to seize and he was able to get to know some of those he may end up touring with as part of a 33-man training squad who assembled at Pennyhill Park last week. 'It will be really cool,' he said. 'I've never been to Argentina or Washington, which is exciting in itself, and it will be a great group of boys to be a part of. 'It's an opportunity to go out and make a bit of a statement in Argentina and America. 'We have a few Argies at Bristol now who talk it up so look forward to seeing them out there. 'Argentina are probably one of the most improved sides over the past four or five years, competing in the Rugby Championship as they do every year. 'They are a big, physical team, that's the first battle, and they pose a load of threats out wide, as you've seen in the Premiership this year. It will be a great test.' Randall hopes to head into the summer off the back of a play-off campaign with Bristol Bears, who head into the final weekend of the Premiership season in the fourth and final spot. That means their destiny is in their own hands for the visit of Harlequins and their No.9 is hoping to end a rollercoaster regular season on a high. 'It has been very up and down,' he added. 'At the start of the season, your goal is to be in those play-off spots and within a chance of winning the Premiership and that's where we are at the moment, so we can't complain. 'We are in that spot, we have a big last game at home and hopefully we get a chance at a play-off. 'Teams have developed how they play against us so being able to adapt in games, for myself as a nine, doing what's best for us to win games has been big this season. 'That last game of the season at home is always a nice send-off for a few boys who are heading off at the end of the season and it's a chance to celebrate the year in front of your own fans. 'We know the test Quins will pose and we are really excited about it.' Randall was an unused replacement when England beat France in the Guinness Men's Six Nations earlier this year. Should Bristol not make the Premiership showpiece, he will hope to have a greater involvement when the international summer begins with a visit from a Les Bleus XV to Allianz Stadium on June 21. 'It's an opportunity for those boys not involved in the (Premiership) final, a chance for boys to stamp their chances of getting on tour and the team to get a bit of cohesion.' England XV face France XV at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on Saturday 21 June at 3:15pm. Tickets from £25, please visit
Arab Times
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Arab Times
A tech bro-pocalypse in ‘Mountainhead'
LOS ANGELES, June 1, (AP): 'Succession' fans rejoice. Jesse Armstrong has again gathered together a conclave of uber-wealthy megalomaniacs in a delicious satire. 'Mountainhead,' which the 'Succession' creator wrote and directed, is a new made-for-HBO movie that leaves behind the backstabbing machinations of media moguls for the not-any-better power plays of tech billionaires. Or, at least, three billionaires. Their host for a poker weekend in the mountains at a sprawling estate named after Ayn Rand's 'The Fountainhead' is Hugo (Jason Schwartzman), the solo member of the group not to reach, as they say, 'B-nut' status. His net worth is a paltry $521 million. The others are three of the wealthiest men in the world. Randall (Steve Carell) is their senior, a kind of Steve Jobs-like mentor they all call 'Papa Bear.' Jeff (Ramy Youssef), who runs the world's leading AI company, calls Randall the 'Dark Money Gandalf.' Lastly, but maybe most notably, is Venis (Cory Michael Smith), whose social media platform boasts 4 billion users globally. But the latest update to Venis' platform, named Traam, is causing havoc. As the four gather at Hugo's isolated perch in the Utah mountains, news reports describe violence sweeping across Asia due to an outbreak of deepfakes on Traam that have wrecked any sense of reality. Yet what's real for this quartet of digital oligarchs - none of whom has a seemingly direct reallife corollary, all of whom are immediately recognizable - is more to the point of 'Mountainhead,' a frightfully credible comedy about the delusions of tech utopianism. Each of the four, with the exception of some hesitancy on the part of Jeff, are zealous futurist. On the way to Mountainhead, a doctor gives Randall a fatal diagnosis that he outright refuses. 'All the things we can do and we can't fix one tiny little piece of gristle in me?' Dialogue But together, in Armstrong's dense, highly quotable dialogue, their arrogance reaches hysterical proportions. While the cast is altogether excellent, this is most true with Smith's Venis, a tech bro to end all tech bros. As the news around the world gets worse and worse, his certainty doesn't waver. Earth, itself, no longer hold much interest for him. 'I just want to get us transhuman!' he shouts. Progress (along with net worth) is their cause, and much of the farce of 'Mountainhead' derives from just how much any semblance of compassion for humanity has left the building. It's in the way Venis blanches at the mention of his baby son. It's in the way, as death counts escalate in the news on their phones, they toy with world politics like kids at a Risk board. In one perfectly concise moment, Venis asks, sincerely, 'Do you believe in other people?' If 'Succession' filtered its media satire through family relationships, 'Mountainhead' runs on the dynamics of bro-styled male friendship. There are beefs, hug-it-out moments, passive-aggressive put downs and eruptions of anger. Part of the fun of Armstrong's film isn't just how their behavior spills into a geopolitical events but how it manifests, for example, in which room everyone gets. All of 'Mountainhead' unfolds in the one location, with white mountaintops stretching in the distance outside the fl oor-to-ceiling windows. It could be a play. Instead, though, it's something that either hardly exists anymore or, maybe, exists everywhere: the made-for-TV movie. There's no lack of films made for streaming services, but many of them fall into some in-between aesthetic that couldn't fill a big screen and feel a touch disposable on the small screen. But 'Mountainhead' adheres to the tradition of the HBO movie; it's lean, topical and a fine platform for its actors. And for Armstrong, it's a way to keep pursuing some of the timely themes of 'Succession' while dispensing lines like: 'Coup-out the US? That's a pretty big enchilada.' 'Mountainhead,' an HBO Films release, is unrated by the Motion Picture Association. Running time: 109 minutes. Three stars out of four.
Time of India
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Mountainhead Review: A relevant, promising satire undone by heavy talk and blunted ideas
Story: Four ultra-wealthy tech billionaires gather at a mountain mansion in Utah for a retreat as the world reels from a global crisis sparked by AI-fuelled misinformation. Review: 'Mountainhead' is a strange, slightly maddening film that wants to show us just how deluded tech billionaires can be. It's a drama, with flashes of black comedy, trying to get into the minds of the ultra-rich who genuinely believe they're here to shape the world — maybe even save it. The film revolves around four central characters and sets up an intriguing premise, but it never quite takes off. It often feels stuck in its own head, and the characters speak in such lofty, philosophical riddles that you begin to wonder who, exactly, this is for. Coming from Jesse Armstrong, the creator of the brilliant 'Succession,' it's hard not to feel let down by a film that could've had so much bite. The plot revolves around a group of four super wealthy tech friends who call themselves the 'Brewsters' and have gathered at a luxury mountain retreat in Utah called Mountainhead — a not-so-subtle nod to Ayn Rand's 'Fountainhead.' There's Venis (Cory Michael Smith), who runs a social media platform called Traam that's accidentally spreading AI-generated deepfakes across the globe. Then there's Jeff (Ramy Youssef), whose AI tech is spiraling into misuse, and Randall (Steve Carell), a powerful investor now grappling with terminal cancer. Their reunion, hosted by Souper (Jason Schwartzman), starts off with some banter and passive-aggression but soon shifts into something darker. They turn their moral compass toward Jeff, eventually coming to the conclusion that his invention is a threat to humanity. All of this unfolds while the world burns outside, and they continue sipping rare whisky, as if the apocalypse were just another business issue to debate. Armstrong treads familiar ground — the obscenely rich, cocooned from consequence — but where 'Succession' was sharp, messy, and emotionally alive, 'Mountainhead' is colder and more abstract. It also draws directly from real life: Venis' denial of responsibility for Traam's impact echoes Zuckerberg's detachment during the 2016 US presidential election, while Randall's fixation on cheating death recalls Peter Thiel. A close watch will reveal glimpses of Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Sam Bankman-Fried in the characters too. There are clever moments, especially when the film leans into satire — like when Souper writes everyone's net worth in lipstick on their bare chests or when Jeff's wealth overtakes Randall's by some obscure metric. But those flashes of absurdity don't carry through the whole film. Much of the dialogue is dense and philosophical, peppered with Kant and Plato, and after a while it stops feeling smart and starts feeling like noise. The performances, though, are solid across the board. Jason Schwartzman, Steve Carell, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef do what they can with characters who are often more like ideas than real people. The film does find a bit of momentum toward the end, when the outside world's chaos finally seeps into Mountainhead and shakes the group out of their bubble. It's the only point where the story feels like it has real stakes. Until then, it mostly meanders, unsure whether it wants to be a satire, a character study, or a tech-world fable. In the end, 'Mountainhead' is more of a warning sign than a fully formed film. It has some compelling ideas — and certainly no shortage of ambition — but it's weighed down by its own cleverness. It wants to say something urgent about power, tech, and the people shaping our future, but it often gets lost in its own intellectual fog. There are moments that stick, but not enough to make the whole thing land. In the end, it comes across as a sermon disguised as a satire.
New European
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- New European
Matthew d'Ancona's culture: Mountainhead is a whip-smart dystopian comedy
For those of us who have been in mourning since the finale of Succession in May 2023, travelling the world to watch its stars on stage as a form of grief management (reader, I went to New York), Jesse Armstrong's return as writer and director of this feature-length drama has been giddily anticipated. And it does not disappoint. In contrast to the international grandeur of the Roy family saga, with its debt to Lear and Greek mythology, Mountainhead is a bottle drama about four super-rich tech bros – claustrophobically confined for the weekend to the palatial mountain lair built in the Rockies by Hugo (Jason Schwarzmann); known to the other three as 'Soups', for 'Soup Kitchen', because he is worth a mere $521 million ('Like Fountainhead 'Mountainhead'? Was your interior decorator Ayn Bland?'). Like a younger Elon Musk, Venis (Cory Michael Smith) is the richest man alive and has just released a new version of his social media app, Traam, which has four billion users. Though its unfalsifiable deepfakes are causing riots and bloodshed all over the world, the tech titan is unmoved: 'We're going to show users as much shit as possible, until everyone realises… nothing means anything, and everything is funny – and cool.' His less wealthy but (slightly) more ethical friend and rival Jeff (Ramy Youssef) needles him for launching '4Chan on fucking acid' and does so knowing that – for all his bravado – Venis covets his own company's AI capacity that can bring a measure of order to the mayhem sown by Traam. Completing the quartet is the older Randall (Steve Carell), known as 'Papa Bear' and 'Dark Money Gandalf', who bears a striking resemblance to Donald Trump's first powerful Silicon Valley cheerleader, Peter Thiel. Inclined to quote Hegel, Kant and Plato, Randall – who has terminal cancer – is privately hoping to exploit Venis's deranged tech research in order to upload his own consciousness to the grid. Naturally, Venis loves the idea of a 'transhumanist' future: 'Tron-biking around, digital milkshakes, robot hand jobs!' Thanks to Armstrong's whip-smart dialogue, Mountainhead succeeds primarily as a dystopian screwball comedy; founded on the bathos of four men at a poker weekend casually discussing the means by which they might turn the chaos unleashed by Venis to their advantage. 'Maybe we do look at El Salvador as a dry run,' he suggests. But then again, why not 'coup out the US?' Even Hugo, the poorest of the four, dares to dream: 'If we take down China and the nation-state… now we're making memories!' Again, it is left to Jeff to offer a measure of perspective. Are they sure that dissolving the nation-state and seeking global tech domination is a good idea? 'Because Randall, I do think you're boiling an egg with no water.' None of which endears him to the group's elder ('he is a decelerationist and a snake!') If Succession was a bleak elegy to legacy media, Mountainhead is an even darker satire about the age that has followed, as Logan Roy knew it would. To adapt the grouchy patriarch's most famous line, such men may now rule the world; but they are not serious people. THEATRE Stereophonic (Duke of York's Theatre, London, until October 11) 'You need to show up; you need to pay attention; you need to tell the truth; and you need to deal with the consequences. Right?' Such is the advice of studio engineer Grover (Eli Gelb) to his assistant Charlie (Andrew R. Butler), as the two men seek to oversee a chaotic album recording that begins in June-July 1977 in Sausalito and ends a year later in Los Angeles. Though assumed to be a thinly-veiled account of the making of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1977), David Adjmi's extraordinary play – transferred from Broadway, having scooped up a record number of Tony nominations – has its distant roots in Led Zeppelin's cover of Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. When Adjmi heard the track on a flight, he knew he had to write something about music. It took him a decade to develop and stage Stereophonic, with the help of former Arcade Fire member, Will Butler. The fruit of all that painstaking work is a drama of many layers and great subtlety, that uses the intense setting of all-night sessions in the studio – a glass screen dividing the engineers from the band – to drill deep into what makes the five performers tick, create music, and love and loathe one another. There is Peter (Jack Riddiford), the increasingly monomaniacal vocalist and guitarist, his relationship with star vocalist and songwriter Diana (Lucy Karczewski) in sharp decline. Bass player Reg (Zachary Hart), ill from booze and cocaine, wraps himself in a blanket of wretchedness, squandering the love of vocalist and keyboard player Holly (Nia Towle). Simon (Chris Stack) is the British-American band's de facto manager, as well as its drummer. Beyond the walls of the studio, their fame is surging; within, they are a portrait of familial dysfunction. Though Stereophonic brilliantly captures the golden age of the seventies album – and is studded with allusions to Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now (1973), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), the Eagles and the Watergate scandal – its power flows from the universality of the pressure-cooker conversations, rows and banter in which the characters reveal themselves. 'I guess I believe we're here to suffer,' Grover tells Reg. In contrast, each of the band members – to a greater or lesser extent – is a dreamer: hence, all the disasters, and all the magic. FILM The Ballad of Wallis Island (Selected cinemas) It cannot be emphasised enough that this wonderful movie is not one of those twee British romcoms in which middle-class people retreat to a remote landscape to discuss their difficult feelings. Directed by James Griffiths and written by longtime collaborators, Tim Key and Tom Basden, The Ballad of Wallis Island is a film of much greater power, wit and poignancy. Wading ashore on a tiny Welsh island, indie-folk singer Herb McGwyer (Basden) is welcomed by Charles Heath (Key), a reclusive millionaire who is paying him £500,000 to play a private gig for an audience of 'less than 100'. From the start, Charles's remorseless banter and quips drive Herb to distraction: he calls him 'Dame Judi Drenched' after he falls in the water; describes his 'rider' of Monster Munch, Braeburn apples and Johnnie Walker Blue Label as his 'Winona'; and says of his own travels: 'Kathmandu? More like Kathman-did!' Though Herb badly needs the money to pay for his next album, he is increasingly alarmed by Charles's manic eccentricity; by the lack of facilities on the island and its lone, under-stocked shop, overseen by the amiable Amanda (Sian Clifford); and by the dawning realisation that, in this case, 'less than 100' means 'one'. His host is an obsessive fan of McGwyer Mortimer, the folk duo of which Herb used to be half – until, nine years before, he parted ways with his partner in music and life, Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan). 'I'm in Misery,' he says to his manager from the island's payphone. 'I'm going to wake up with no ankles!' But a greater shock lies in store when Nell arrives on the island, accompanied by her husband Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen). Charles's dream is to use the power of surprise to encourage a musical reunion. At this point – if it were called Folk Actually – the movie might have descended into intolerable schmaltz. But it does no such thing. Nell, who now lives in Portland, Oregon, and makes chutney to sell at farmers' markets, is distinctly unimpressed by Herb's desperate efforts to remain musically credible – including the acquisition of a large back tattoo and a series of 'collabs' with younger artists. For his part, Herb is completely thrown by Nell's sudden presence and initially coils up like a scorpion. In this respect, we see unexpected parallels with Charles, a widower whose logorrhoea, it becomes clear, is a symptom of quiet desperation. To watch him play Swingball furiously on his own is to behold a man wracked by grief, anger and loneliness; just as Herb is a tight knot of pain and loss. If there is a saving power in all this, it is Charles's passion for the music which reminds him of a happier time. And it is his total enchantment as they finally rehearse that helps Herb and Nell to remember why they were so good together, why the songs meant so much, and why they still do. The catharsis they experience does not reflect mawkish nostalgia but a gentle peace treaty with the past and a coming to terms with its place in their respective histories. For Charles, too, there is tentative hope that his frozen emotions may now thaw. A movie full of heart, in the best possible sense. STREAMING Dept. Q (Netflix, all episodes) Four months after he is shot in an ambush that kills a police constable and paralyses his partner DCI James Hardy (Jamie Sives) from the waist down, DCI Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) returns to work – and is reassigned to run a new cold case unit in the station's shabby basement. Based on the best-selling Scandi-noir thrillers by Danish writer Jussi Adler-Olsen, Dept. Q transposes the drama to Edinburgh, where Morck is respected for his talents as a cop but is a constant source of aggravation to his boss DCS Moira Jacobson (Kate Dickie), under pressure from Holyrood to deliver results. Created by Scott Frank (who was also behind The Queen's Gambit) and Chandni Lakhani, the nine-episode series spreads its wings and takes its time – to compelling effect. The through line is the unsolved case of lawyer Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie); missing, presumed dead, for four years. Along the way, in a manner that recalls the early seasons of The Wire, the spectacularly anti-social Morck builds a team that includes Akram Salim (Alexej Manvelov), ostensibly an IT expert whose past in Syria is shrouded in secrecy, and Rose Dickson (Leah Byrne), a talented detective afflicted by PTSD. Morck himself is assigned a course of therapy with Dr. Rachel Irving (the always excellent Kelly Macdonald): help which he knows that he needs but is characteristically reluctant to accept. There is also a debt to The Silence of the Lambs, which I will not spoil. The plot is twisty, complex and absorbing. Goode, playing completely against type, has never been better, matching all the darkness with profane gallows humour. Dept. Q is one of the best television dramas of 2025 and richly deserves a second season.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Target Confirms Launch Day Switch 2 Stock, But Prepare to Line Up Early
PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing. Just days after YouTuber Jake Randall tipped a restock of Nintendo Switch 2 at Target, the retailer has officially confirmed availability. When preorders went live for Target's online store on April 24, the stock sold out in just two hours, according to a press release. Now, a new batch of standalone Switch 2 consoles and the Switch 2 + Mario Kart bundle will be available at physical stores on June 5 and on on June 6. At select stores, Target will also create a dedicated Nintendo-themed space within the electronics section. But don't expect to just wander in. Target requests that customers line up outside local stores before business hours begin on June 5. The team at the store will distribute a limited number of tickets, either physical or digital, to reserve your purchase. When it's your turn, you'll be directed to the electronics section, where you can purchase just one item—either the standalone Switch 2 or the Mario Kart bundle. Online sales will begin early morning on June 6, and will continue until Target sells out. Target hasn't confirmed how many units it has available, but Randall's leak suggested there would be 40-60 units at each store. So, if you want one, plan to line up early. The dedicated Nintendo area in-store will also be selling additional Nintendo software, amiibo, accessories, and merchandise. The merch starts at $20, and it includes Nintendo-themed stainless steel tumblers, apparel, toys, collectibles, and more. 'At Target, we don't just launch products — we create moments,' says Cassandra Jones, Target's SVP of merchandising. 'The Nintendo Switch 2 is one of the most anticipated gaming releases in years, and we're making it unforgettable for our guests in a uniquely Target way.' If you can't get a Switch 2 from Target on launch day, Staples, GameStop, Best Buy, and Costco are expected to have additional stock. Also, if you have preordered a Switch 2, you need to recheck your order. Some users are seeing their purchases get canceled without reason.
